Not My Body
by Christy W
Summary: YAHF- Harry suddenly finds himself in Sunnydale
1. Chapter 1

Title: Not My Body  
Author: Christy  
Rating: FR 15  
Fandom/Theme: Buffy/Dresden Files  
Disclaimer: I own none of the characters featured here. They belong to their respective creators and production companies.  
Part: 1/?  
Distribution: and TtH  
Spoilers: None for Buffy; Right after "Small Favors" for Dresden  
Challenge: Response to Challenge 4148: A Harry Dresden Halloween  
Summary: YAHF- Harry suddenly finds himself in Sunnydale  
Author's Note: For all the stories I've written, this is my first Halloween fic and I have a feeling it might end up being a bit of a doozy by the time I'm done with it...we shall see.

The first thing I noticed when I woke up was that I was on a street decorated for Halloween while little demons ran around screaming and screeching. That was my first clue something wasn't right, since when I'd been shot, it had been April. What had happened in the past few months that I didn't remember? Then one of the little imps tried to attack me; I quickly had my staff up and yelling "_Forzare_". Light like I hadn't seen in a while erupted from my staff, tossing the imp down the street. He got back up, took one more look at me and my staff and wisely ran the other way. And then, per the usual run of luck I get, my night _really_went to hell.

"Xander!" a woman called out. I turned around to see a young, transparent redhead in a revealing outfit while a shellshocked brunette in an old timey dress wandered up behind her while sneaking panicked glances at her surroundings. I Looked at them both a little closer and could see the remnants of a spell surrounding both of them. Then I happened to glance down when the brunette grabbed my arm, babbling away in French. And since I hadn't turned my Sight off yet, I noticed the same fraying around my own aura. _Hells Bells, what the fuck is going on now?_

Shutting down my Sight and looking back at the ghostly woman while wracking my brain for what little rudimentary French Justin had drilled into me, I felt a familiar weight in my pocket. Grinning, I pulled it out as I motioned the Frenchwoman to follow me. "Bob, a little help here would be great right about now," I informed the skull.

The familiar orange lights soon brightened the eyesockets, though a bit brighter than I remembered. "Harry! You're back! Well, kinda. What the hell did you get us into this time?" he demanded, just as the brunette screamed "Sorcere!" and tried to run.

"Xan-Harry, grab her! She'll get hurt and she's our friend," the little redhead yelled out, so I acted on instinct, pointing my staff in her direction and yelling out "_Incarcere_!" She stopped in her tracks as I turned back to Bob.

"I need your help figuring out what happened. Last thing I remember is waiting for Murph and getting shot," I explained to him.

"Well, um, I"m not sure what's going on either, but I think Giles might be able to help us- he's the school librarian and well, Buffy's Watcher," the redhead said, then off my look, elaborated a little bit more. "See, Buffy, the brunette who's actually a blonde, is the Slayer, I'm usually a less ghostly Willow and you were my Xander-shaped friend. Well, you're still Xander shaped, but I don't think it's Xander in the driver's seat, cuz he doesn't know all those cool spells," Willow explained to me, in one breath, which I found more of a superpower than my bits of magic.

After releasing Buffy, we headed towards the library, Bob attempting to pick Willow's brain on what, exactly, a Slayer was. After explaining to the older man about all three of us apparently getting our costumes from the same shop, Mr. Giles definitely seemed rather upset. "So, we have the Slayer incapacitated, Willow is a ghost of some sort and you, sir, are?"

"Harry Dresden, Wizard, formerly of Chicago, I believe," I told him, having stowed Bob again after his constant stream of questions had petered off. I could see Rupert was reluctant to believe that this apparent 17 year old body in front of him was a wizard, but after assurances from Willow seemed to convince him to give me a try, at least.

"So what was the name of this costume shop everyone seems to have gotten their outfits from?" he asked, his eyes darkening in anger as he grabbed a couple things out of the weapons case and indicated I should follow, muttering under his breath about Chaos Mages and finally giving Ethan what for.


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Not My Body  
Author: Christy  
Rating: FR 15  
Fandom/Theme: Buffy/Dresden Files  
Disclaimer: I own none of the characters featured here. They belong to their respective creators and production companies.  
Part: 2/?  
Distribution: and TtH  
Spoilers: None for Buffy; Right after "Small Favors" for Dresden  
Challenge: Response to Challenge 4148: A Harry Dresden Halloween  
Summary: YAHF- Harry suddenly finds himself in Sunnydale  
Author's Note: For all the stories I've written, this is my first Halloween fic and I have a feeling it might end up being a bit of a doozy by the time I'm done with it...we shall see.

My head ached horribly and someone was trying to shake me awake, though thankfully it was gently.

"Xander? Xander, are you awake?"

I opened my eyes to see the redhead from last night, though much more solid looking, leaning over me. "I-I'm fine," I croaked out, gradually managing to get into a sitting, then a standing position. I glanced around and noticed I was apparently in Xander's bedroom. Luckily, I could see my staff leaning up against the wall and my Bob-containing cloak draped over a computer chair. "So the spell Rupert and I stopped the mage from continuing worked?" I asked her, quickly dressing behind the closet door, since his best friend was obviously used to him dressing around her. I shrugged on the duster and had grabbed the staff before she was trying to yank my arm out of my socket as she dragged me all the way towards school.

I then proceeded to stare, wide-eyed, as she managed to explain to Giles the entire situation since she'd come by the house and she did it in one breath again. Rupert took his glasses off, rubbing them clean in what seemed a common habit with this group, before glancing up at me. "So, Mr. Dresden, unlike the otherwise temporary nature of Ethan's spell, you seem to be the only one still affected," he surmised.

"Not quite, Mr. Mage," Bob piped up from my pocket. Resigned to someone else knowing about the helper in my life, I sighed and reluctantly brought the skull into view.

"And you might be?" Rupert requested calmly, not at all disturbed at the sight of a skull with glowing eyes.

"Bob- a spirit of intellect bound to the skull and its owner's wishes. I am free to leave the skull if given permission by my owner, but will die if exposed to significant sunlight without a host body. As a spirit of knowledge, I have served various wizards over the years and functions much like a magical encyclopedia, assisting Harry here with various tasks as needed."

Giles inclined his head in greeting. "And I assume your outspokenness is due to having some concept of how your Harry Dresden ended up lodged in the body of young Mister Harris?"

"Um, yeah, I think I have an explanation for all this, but I don't think anyone here's gonna like it," he warned while everyone else seemed to do a collective shrug. "Well, best I can figure, Harry's essence when the spell happened called me to this part of the multiverse, since the chaos mage just so happened to activate the spell at the moment Harry here was shot back in our dimension. Since both of us are connected, we both got switched out here," Bob explained succinctly.

"Switched?" Willow screeched. "Then where's Xander at now?"

"Probably being revived in Harry's body," Bob retorted. "Look, little girl, I know you'll be awesome with the magic once you're taught- tons of raw talent there, toots, not that I wouldn't mind helping you with the good parts-"

"Bob!" I yelled, knowing what that tone of voice meant, but glanced over at Willow with a measuring stare. I might not have Molly to train in this world, but I might have a Molly-type substitute.

"Sorry, Harry. Anyway, kid, like I was saying, the thing you need to realize about magic is that there's _**ALWAYS**_complications and consequences, even for the most well-meaning of spells. The sooner you learn that, the better."

Willow sniffled, then stiffened her bottom lip. "So, Harry's stuck in Xander's body from now on- what do we do about everything else now?"

A/N:That is what I've got so far. Will write more about how Harry deals with things once I give myself a refresher course in seasons 2-4 of Buffy. I have general plans for the story to arc that far at least, so this is DEFINITELY a long-term AU fic here.


End file.
